Boundary of reason
by Vanaya
Summary: It's been a year after Naru came back from England, and the SPR gets a new case. Will they manage to stay alive on their wors case ever? Ok, this summary sucks, bit it's my first fanfic. Please read and review :))
1. Chapter 1

"_text_"_ – _thoughts

"text" – Japanese speaking

"**text"** – English speaking

This is my first fanfic so please bear with me if I spell something wrong. I hope you'll like the story :) Please review :D :D

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Ghost Hunt.

Chapter 1

_"Holy cow, I'm sooooo dead! I have never been so late before! Well, it wasn't my fault, so_ _Naru will have to forgive me"_ Just then the eighteen years old, brown haired girl called Taniyama Mai stopped before the door with "SPR Shibuya Psychic Research" written on it. She opened the door gently and slipped in hoping the bell wound not ring. Unfortunately, it did. Mai sighted and walked to the kitchenette.

"Mai, you're two hours late. I'm waiting for your explanation." she heard behind her and shrieked a little.

"Jesus, Naru, don't scare me like that! When did you get here anyway? I didn't hear you at all..." "It's not my fault you didn't clean your ears today. And I thought I asked you a question first. Why were you two hours late?"

"Well, after my classes my English teacher wanted to talk to me about my homework so I had to stay, and later my friend asked me to help her with her younger brother, because her parents left and I just couldn't say no" she answered meekly. "I'm so sorry Naru, it'll never happen again. Well, maybe it will, but I will call you immediately if such situation arises" Mai added. Naru just looked at her I walked back to his office without a word. "Mai, tea" the girl heard just before the door to her bosses office closed. "Lazy, inconsiderate, tea – addicted jerk" she grumbled under her nose. When the tea was ready, she t knocked on her other co-worker's office door and opened it a little. "Lin, want some tea?" she asked and proceeded inside as she saw the tall man nod. She gave him his tea and smiled when he thanked her.

"I wish Naru would have such manners..." Mai murmured. She knew Lin heard her and she knew he was resisting the urge to laugh.

Over the three years Mai has been working with two ice-cubes, their bonds grew stronger. She noticed Lin started to smile and talk more, and Naru started to open up a little more to her. Even when the men were in England after finding Gene's body, they kept in touch with whole team (well, Lin did by e-mail, but he forced his charge to call them once or twice). They were in England for over a year and when they finally came back, Mai couldn't believe when the narcissist said they came back for good. She didn't know what was their reason for that, but she didn't care. She was glad their team was together again. Of course, she still loved Naru, even more than before, but she didn't have courage to tell him that after he rejected her.

Mai was going to give Naru his tea, when she heard the bell jingle.

"Hello, is this Shibuya Psychic Research?" asked the quiet vice.


	2. Chapter 2

So, here is the second chapter. I'm sorry that the first was so short, I didn't even know it would turn out to be so short. Sorry for mistakes. Hope you'll enjoy the story! :D

Chapter 2

"Hello, is this Shibuya Psychic Research?" asked the quiet voice. Mai turned around with a smile and ushered the client inside. It was a woman in her thirties, probably, with black, straight hair tied in a bun and big, terrified grey eyes. Then went into Naru's office and told him about woman waiting in the "interrogation room" as she called it. She gave him his tea and waited for new orders (and a thank you, which she will never get).

"So, what are you standing around for? Go make more tea and call Lin" Naru said, which gained him a furious and grumbling Mai. He smiled slightly, he would never get bored by his assistant's reactions. He then proceeded outside and sat on the sofa across the client.

"Please tell us, what brings you here?" the big – boss asked with his cold voice.

"Um, I'm Takeda Minori. I live in Chofu, not far from Tokyo. We moved there half a year ago. In the beginning everything was alright, but after a month...Strange things started to happen. The lights would suddenly flicker, and doors to shut on their own. My daughter has been shut in the room, but the door doesn't have a lock. Later we, I mean, my daughter and I, have been pushed around and pushed down the stairs. The knives in the kitchen would suddenly fly in the air and try to stab us. And finally, two weeks ago, my niece has come to live with us, because our house is close to the university. On the first evening of her stay the three of us (me, my daughter and my husband) were in the living room watching TV, when suddenly we heard a scream coming from the bathroom. We came upstairs, but the bathroom was empty, except for the pool of blood on the floor.

We were terrified, but didn't do anything, because we didn't know how Noriko **(Minori's niece)** disappeared. But... Yesterday we found her. She was in the garden. Naked and...dismembered. She...She didn't have her head. We identified her by the bracelet I gave her for her birthday. I don't know how to face her mother... But I beg of you, please accept the case. I don't want anyone else to die."she stated with tears in her eyes. Mai noticed the woman's hands shaking a little and sat beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders gently. It seemed to have calmed her down, and she thanked Mai and sipped her tea. Naru sat with clouded look. His assistants both knew, that he was thinking about the case. It was dangerous, very dangerous, possibly even more than the _Blood Stained Labirynth _case. The dark haired boy knew that Mai was most probably going to get hurt. Ha, the girl herself knew she would get hurt (probably). But still he knew she would want him to accept the case. And also she was giving him "the look" - it told he will be in deep trouble if he doesn't accept. Finally he sighted. "We accept the case. We would be grateful if you could prepare 3 rooms, one with lots of electrical outlets for our base. We will bring all of our equipment. We will arrive tomorrow at 10 am" Naru said and started going through his files.

"Thank you very much. Everything will be prepared."

"Mai, call the others and tell them about the case. Tell them to not to be late. And tell

Ms. Matsuzaki to bring her medic bag" the boss announced and left to his office. Mai frowned and said quietly "Why can't you be as nice to me as to the client?" This question wasn't for Naru to hear, but he did anyway and smirked.

"Because I am not a nice person, Mai" he said and closed the door to his office.

"Hmm... This is not what I see in you, Naru..." Mai murmured to herself. She knew Naru WAS nice and kind. It's just that he didn't want to show it. He cared about his team and everyone knew it. It was Naru that always saved Mai when she was in trouble on cases (she has gotten hurt on every case, literally) and it was him that was always beside her when she had one of her psychic nightmares. She felt safe around him. And it was always him she loved, not Gene like Naru thought.

Mai's powers grew rapidly in those three years. She had dreams when she was acting the third person's role, but more often than not, she had first person dreams. And it always ended in her death (I mean the person who she was acting as). She felt this pain as her own. Mai had often sustained some injuries because of her dreams and that's why she was always going around bandaged. Nevertheless Mai always had a smile on her face, she didn't give in to the depression. It was because she had family. Big, weird family. Takigawa Houshou – nicknamed Bou-san, was an ex-monk and an older brother figure to Mai. Matsuzaki Ayako was the team's self-proclaimed priestess and doctor, and she was Mai's sisterly, almost motherly figure. John Brown was a priest and like a gently older brother to the girl. Hara Masako was... well, let's say a hated cousin (they were rivals, because they both love Naru). Osamu Yasuhara was a crazy-kind older brother. Mori Madoka was her doting aunt and Koujo Lin a gentle, always caring (but not showing it) uncle or even father. The who was Naru to Mai? I think that's obvious – a love interest. I won't repeat myself (it's all written upwards) because I'm tired :D :D

**Ok, that's it for today. Sorry for the short chapter, I hope you will like it, even thou nothing spectacular happened. I will think of the rest over the night and upload tomorrow or the day after tomorrow :D I would be grateful, if you could write in the reviews some ideas about what's going to happen in the next chapters. Thank you for reading this and please, pretty please review. I want to know if you like that story and if I have done anything wrong :)**

**Thank you soooo much, Naruisawesome! I'm very happy you like the story :)) **

**Yours forever**

**Vanaya**


	3. Chapter 3

It's finally finished! The third chapter :D I have a small announcement: I don't know if I'll be able to post the rest of the story everyday, but I'll try to spend whole days writing and post it as soon as I can. I hope you will be patient enough to wait :) I also wanted to say thanks to **Musical Teardrops** for review. I don't know how will the story proceed yet, but Mai and Masako will definitely be friends. The rest is a secret (hehe) and I will try to write longer chapters, but it will also take me more time. So please wait patiently, I will definitely write the story until the very end. Oh, and one more thing: this story is unbeta (sorry, I don't know how to spell it, but I mean that no one checks the mistakes in my story).So for now please read and review :D :D

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Ghost Hunt.

Chapter 3

The next day Mai came to work early. It was odd, very odd for her, but she woke at 2 am because of a dream and couldn't go back to sleep. This dream...It was disturbing, because Gene wasn't in the astral plane to guide her. At first all she saw was black and could smell rotten wood and something else, she couldn't decipher what. Then Mai heard the door's squeak and a man coming in slowly. He had a lamp in his hand. He was tall and thin, like skeleton thin, there was a crazy look in his black eyes and he was smirking. The girl's eyes widened in fear, she could feel something was going to happen and it wasn't good.

"So, my little Hitomi, how are you feeling today?" the man asked with a malicious smile. His tone made Mai shiver. She didn't like this dream at all. It was obvious that she was in this girl's, Hitomi's body. Then the man proceeded to torture her for many hours, cutting her skin with a butcher knife and slowly cutting off her fingers. Mai thought she would die from the pain. All she wanted was to wake up, to know she is still alive and safe. She wanted to see Naru. Only he could make her feel safe. That's why when she finally woke up (screaming and crying), she dressed quickly and went to the office.

Now Mai was standing in the kitchenette waiting for the water to boil. She didn't hear the office's door open, so when she heard Naru's voice ask what she was doing there at this time, she screamed. Yeah, Naru surprised her again. Turning around quickly, Mai tripped on her her own feet and would have fallen on the ground, but she found herself in Naru's arms. She looked at him with big, cinnamon eyes Naru loved so much, and blushed beet red. Her boss just smirked and told her to make his tea. By the time she was done, the whole team was there. Bou-san gave Mai a bear like hug, like always when he'd seen her, and he got smacked in the head by Ayako's purse, like always. Monk and the priestess started bickering, Masako was glaring at Mai (who was standing beside Naru) and hiding a frown behind her sleeve, John was trying to calm the two bickering idiots, while Yasuhara was snickering a little. Lin sat with his poker-face on (as always) and Naru... well, he was glaring at the rest of the team with irritation.

"Ok, stop acting like idiots and let's go already. We have wasted a lot of time because of you" he said coldly and went to the van.

The ride to the client's home was rather quiet. Mai was very bored, so she went to sleep.

**In the dream: **(I'm going to make the dream's in Mai POV, it's easier for me)

I was in the dark room again. I could smell the rotting wood and something... I smellled it before. What was that? Something like iron... Iron? Oh my God, it's blood! I knew I know this smell!

I was sitting in a chair, tied up and the rope was hurting my wrists. Then this man came again, untied me, and took to the other room. There he tied me again, but this time, it was a table.

The man grabbed a knife a started cutting off my arms and legs slowly. The pain was unbearable. I was almost chocking, because I was crying so much. Just when I thought I would die, I heard a worried voice calling my name. I think it was Naru's, but it couldn't be. Naru was never worried.

And then I woke up.

**Sorry for such short chapter. I was really tired and I didn't have time to write more, but I promise to write soon. For know my deepest apologies for a cliffhanger and no action. But please wait patiently :) Thank you very much for all reviews :D**

**Vanaya**


	4. Chapter 4

Here goes another chapter :) I wanted to thank everyone for your reviews. Thank you very much :D I hope you'll enjoy this chapter

I do not own Ghost Hunt.

Chapter 4

The first thing Mai noticed after waking up, were Naru's blue eyes. They held so much emotion, her breath hitched. Worry, sadness, anger and huge relief. She couldn't believe Naru was so worried about her. She wouldn't have known if not for his eyes, because he still had his cold mask on.

The man helped her sit up and Mai noticed she was still crying. Then she just couldn't stop her sobs so she brought her hands to her face and cried even harder.

"I can't believe...How could he? How could he do that to her..." Mai choked out.

"What happened, Mai?" Of course that was the only thing Naru wanted to know. Or so Mai thought. Deep inside, Naru was seething. But he also felt relieved that she was alright. Physically at least. He knew that mentally she was a wreck.

"H-He... He just... No! It hurts... It hurts Naru!" Mai managed to choke out through her hard sobs. Naru just couldn't take it. She looked so broken down, he gathered her in his arms and held her tight. Mai felt safe and she knew Naru wouldn't let anything to hurt her.

"Shh... It's okay, Mai. You're safe now." He whispered in her ear.

After some time the girl calmed down enough to stop crying and hiccuping.

"Can you tell what happened in your dream" Naru asked gently. Mai blushed a little, realizing that she was just hugged by her boss and he whispered those calming words to her.

"Yeah... I was a girl named Hitomi. I was tied to he chair in the dark room. I could smell rotten wood, so I think it was some kind of old shed. I also smelled blood... A lot of blood. Then the man came. I couldn't see his face. He had a knife with him. He cut the ropes and took me to another room, where he strapped me down to the table. And then... H-He... He tortured me... First he cut off my fingers, then arms and legs. He also slashed my torso multiply times. And I... I just couldn't die... WE couldn't die... this girl was still alive when he was doing this. I felt it all, Naru. All her pain, all her thoughts and emotions... It was so overwhelming and painful." Mai was crying by the end of the story. And Naru just wished that she didn't have to go through this again. He brought her to the short hug again (very un-Naru-ish :D) and said:

"It's okay. You're safe. He won't hurt you here. But we need to tell this to the others when we get to base."

"Naru, I... I don't know if I'll be able to say it again." Mai hung her head. She knew it was selfish of her, but she felt like she was relieving the whole event again while talking about it. I was like dying again and again. But Naru just smiled a little.

"Okay, I'll tell them. But remember, never, and I mean NEVER go around without someone to accompany you. Do you understand?" his tone changed to the usual business tone.

"Yeah, sure. I'll come and wake you up if I'll need to go to the bathroom or to get something to drink. " said Mai, rolling her eyes. She noticed they were still in the van and moved to get out after her boss.

Minori, their client, showed them the way to the base. It was a big room with two tables and three comfortable couches. When they came in, Naru started to bark out orders and Mai was said to make tea. Monk went with her.

"Soooo, Mai, what were you doing so long in the van with Naru?" he asked with a sly smile, that made the shivers go up Mai's back.

"I was telling him about my dream" she answered, not looking up. Monk's face fell.

"You had a dream? Was it scary? Oh, my poor, poor Mai! Come to big brother!" he bombarded her with questions and brought her into a bear hug.

"Get off of me, you pervert!" Mai screamed while laughing. She really loved Monk and his hugs, but he was really suffocating her.

After the tea was done, Mai gave the tray to Monk (he was a man, so he was supposed to carry heavy things :D). When they were in one of the hallways, the girl felt cold. She looked around to see if any of the windows were open, but none were. Suddenly she noticed she was alone and the hallway seemed darker. A feeling of cold passed her again.

Before her stood the ghost of a man from her dream. Mai stiffened. She was so terrified she couldn't even breath, let alone scream for help or chant the 'Nine Cuts'. Suddenly the apparition dissapeared and Mai heard something behind her. While turning, she caught a glimpse of light reflecting in metal. A knife. Just then she felt a horrible pain in her side and saw a lot of lood coating her hands. Mai collapsed on her knees and let pit a shrilling scream.

"NARUUU!" And she fainted.

**A cliff hanger again. Sorry to disappoint you, but you will have to wait a little longer. Hope you enjoyed and liked it :)**

**Please review **

**Vanaya**


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